


Opening a Bookshop

by YandereKiwi



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-24 23:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22166014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YandereKiwi/pseuds/YandereKiwi
Summary: Based off of that unmade scene where Crowley visits Aziraphale before he officially opens his bookshop. Features some pining and Crowley doing something nice.
Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Kudos: 4





	Opening a Bookshop

**Author's Note:**

> I lowkey forgot what I wrote in this because I wrote it awhile ago before posting it here- WARNING: This story uses the word faggot.

The red doors to the new bookstore on the corner of Regency Street opened and out stepped the shop’s owner; a pudgy, soft-spoken, angelic man. “Pardon me,” he said softly, as he squeezed out between the door and the ladder that was leaning against one of the columns by the entrance.   
The man took a few steps out, the morning sun shining off of his light golden curls. He then stopped and turned to watch the sign painter finish his work. ‘A.Z. Fell and Co.’ the sign read. “Oh my… jolly good, that looks tip-top good sir,” Aziraphale said, with a warm smile on his face before stepping to the side of the building. “I was thinking on this part we could write ‘Purveyor of Books for the Gentry. Established 1800 AD.’ and on the other side,” he walked around the entranceway to the side of the store that was on Regency Street. He kept his warm smile on his face as he added, “…here… ‘Antiquarian and Unusual Books’.” Aziraphale put his hands on his hips and smiled, proud of himself for finally establishing his own bookstore (something he has wanted to do since 2360 BCE, when he got his hands-on Egyptian texts written on papyrus.) He never considered his time running a book stall at the market in 41 AD to count as ‘a bookstore’ for two reasons: it was much smaller than he wished and it didn’t go over too well with the illiterate masses.  
Aziraphale nodded his head, silently agreeing with his own ideas on what to write on the outside of his bookstore. He walked back over to the doorway and stopped next to the ladder. He looked up at the sign-painter who was putting the last dot on the sign. “Well done chap,” Aziraphale commented. “When you are finished out here, please come in for your pay and some tea.”  
The sign-painter glanced at him and commented, “I do not need tea sir.”  
Aziraphale paused, his warm smile slowly turning into an awkward frown. “I just wish to show my gratitude for your work sir. I would much appreciate it if you could join me for tea after. You do deserve it after all. This means a lot to me.” Aziraphale looked at him and waited for the small nod- a silent agreement that tea was now written in the books. The warm smile returned to his face as he squeezed himself back between the door and the ladder- returning to the inside of the bookshop.  
The smile vanished into a weak frown as he looked around the large room. The majority of the bookshelves were barren but littered on the floor and every table were hundreds of books, completely disorganized. Aziraphale glanced at the empty shelves for a moment with a small frown still on his face. “Now… back to my work,” he said to himself before smiling gently. He walked over to his desk in the other room and picked up some books off of the desk. Aziraphale peacefully whistled as he put leather bound books on the shelves. The angelic man paused, stopping himself from putting one particular book on the shelf. He read the title out loud, “Hm… ‘The Divine Comedy’… perhaps this one will pique Crowley’s interest.” Aziraphale set the book back down on his desk, on the one empty spot.  
As Aziraphale picked up another stack of books the bell above the door ringed- signaling a guest entering the store. Aziraphale started talking before even turning to see who was there, “I am afraid the shop will not open until Friday. We will have a grand opening then...”  
“We aren’t here to buy books, Aziraphale,” Gabriel remarked as he closed the door behind himself and Sandalphon.  
Aziraphale glanced at them and was overcome with a sudden panic. They tended to only visit him when he did something wrong. He then took a moment to think about what recent things he’s done wrong. Last, he could think of was seven years ago. He opened his mouth and softly said, “Oh. Oh dear. Listen, if it’s about the situation is Paris, um that wasn’t my miracle. I-I uh just happened to be in the area… craving crepes, when it happened. I promise, it wasn’t my miracle.”  
“I have no idea whereof you speak, Aziraphale. We are here with good news,” Gabriel replied in a relaxed tone. Although now he was curious as to what Aziraphale was talking about a miracle in Paris.  
The angel smiled brightly and excitedly balled his hands into fists as he awaited what news they brought with them. “Oh good news! How lovely! Do tell.”  
“We’re bringing you home,” Gabriel stated.  
Sandalphon added, “Promoting you back upstairs.”  
Sandalphon and Gabriel smiled fondly as they waited for Aziraphale’s unbound joy. But in response Aziraphale look perplexed. He stammered, “Up-Upstairs? I’m… I’m opening the bookstore on Friday though. Perhaps if someone could be here for the grand opening and make a go of it, then I think I can really…”  
Gabriel smiled softly and nodded his head before stating, “It’s an excellent idea. Whoever replaces you down here can use it as a base of their operations.”  
“Use my bookshop?” Aziraphale exclaimed as a frown appeared on his face. “So… you mean… like permanently move upstairs?”  
“Yes, permanently. At least unless you get demoted, but hopefully it won’t come to that,” Sandalphon said in a soft voice. “I can’t imagine why anyone would want to spend more than five minutes longer in this world than they had to.”  
Gabriel’s smiled warmed as he glanced at Sandalphon. “Aziraphale has been here for five-thousand-eight-hundred… almost six-thousand years. We must applaud him for such devotion.” Gabriel took a small silver-plated box out of his coat pocket. “I’m sure you’re just surprised, this is all of a sudden. You were here for so long… you must be almost accustomed to living amongst humans. But surely you do not want to stay here longer, Aziraphale.” Gabriel opened up the box and looked at Aziraphale, still waiting for his excitement. He added, “Your devotion hasn’t gone unnoticed… so that’s why we’re promoting you.”  
“I…I don’t want a medal,” Aziraphale stammered in an off-hand manner.  
“That’s very noble of you, Aziraphale,” Gabriel said softly as he offered the silver box to him.  
Aziraphale nervously looks around, desperately looking for some way to get out of his current situation. As much as he was thankful for the promotion back upstairs, he still preferred Earth. Sure, not all humans were nice, but Aziraphale certainly enjoyed their company more than the archangels in heaven who acted as if they were better than everyone (even to the point of having no compassion). As he glanced around the chaotic bookstore, he saw the worst possible thing- the last thing he wanted to see at this time, Crowley standing in the doorway of the bookshop. Crowley was holding a small red package in his right hand, and he cheerfully waved with his free hand. He made sure to not draw any attention himself as he noticed the two archangels there. Aziraphale gulped and turned his attention back to the two angels before saying, “But… only I can properly thwart the wiles of the demon Crowley.” Aziraphale’s eyes looked away, looking back at Crowley. ‘He is rather dapper in that hat,’ he thought to himself.  
Crowley suddenly stops smiling and raises an eyebrow. He then points to the red package and mouthed, ‘Cho-co-lates.’  
Aziraphale let out a small sigh and once again looked at the archangels. He simply said, “No offense to anyone else… but they won’t be able to thwart Crowley as well as I do. They aren’t accustomed to his plans like I am. I almost know everything he is thinking. Only I can best bet what his next move will be.”  
Gabriel chuckled slightly before trying to soothe Aziraphale’s anxiety. “I do not doubt that whoever replaces you down here will serve as good an enemy to Crowley as you are. Michael, perhaps. He’s an intelligent fellow. He will be able to figure out that demon’s train of thought,” he said the last part without much confidence.  
Aziraphale nervously glanced down at his feet as he tried to imagine Michael, of all angels, being in his bookstore and fighting Crowley. “Crowley is…” he started to speak as he looked back up- but he once again looked beyond the angels and looked at the demon standing at the door.  
He got distracted by Crowley’s horrified face as he mouthed to Aziraphale, ‘Michael? Michael is a wanker! A foozler!’ Aziraphale is nonplussed by Crowley’s reaction. It was clear that not even Crowley himself wanted to face-off with Michael, just because it wouldn’t be the same- it wouldn’t be entertaining. Aziraphale then continued, “Crowley has been down here on Earth just as long as I have… just after the beginning. As I’ve said, I know him well. He is wily, and cunning, and brilliant and oh…”  
“It almost sounds like you like him,” Gabriel commented. “Almost a little… too much.”  
“I loathe him,” Aziraphale corrected, his voice suddenly turning into a serious, monotone voice. “And, despite myself, I respect him as a worthy opponent… Which he isn’t because he’s a demon and I cannot respect a demon. I only respect how he is nearly as intelligent as I am… I respect his mind, and not the demon himself. So I couldn’t even bring myself to like him… because he is a demon. I see him as nothing but as an opponent in the ineffable plan. It is only natural that I would loathe him,” He rambled.  
“That’s the attitude I like to hear,” Gabriel declared. He handed the silver box to Sandalphon and carefully picked the medal out of the box. Aziraphale looked at the medal, a gold circle with silver angel wings right in the center of the circle. Aziraphale looked back up at the archangel as he continued to speak, “You’ll be a great asset back at the head office. I can assure you of that.”  
Aziraphale anxiously glanced over at the door, surprised to see Crowley has left. ‘He’s up to no good…’ he thought to himself. His thoughts suddenly got scattered as Gabriel put the medal around his neck. Aziraphale stammered a response, “So… a-are we going straight back right now? Before the uh… grand opening for my bookstore?”  
“Well soon,” Gabriel spoke soothingly. “While we are here on Earth, Sandalphon and I are going to stroll down Cork Street to see my tailor. When we return, we can head back with you. So you have some time to… say farewell to your literature. We can make sure someone is here by Friday to open the store for you but we can discuss that later.” Gabriel and Sandalphon smiled softly at Aziraphale before turning and leaving the bookstore. Together they turned the corner and walked down the street to a high-class tailor shop.  
Both Gabriel and Sandalphon stood outside of the tailor shop, admiring the clothes of a dandy gentleman who walked out of the shop just as they arrived. Gabriel and Sandalphon both walk into the tailor shop; the store was empty besides the tailor and the two angels. Sandalphon stood by the door as Gabriel took a step toward the man running shop. Gabriel looked at the tailor and asked, “Davidson, is my suit finished?”  
“It is, sir,” the tailor, Davidson, replied. He then continued, “If you wish to disrobe behind the curtain, I can have it all made ready… and you can make sure it is perfect for your expectations.”  
Gabriel walked to the other side of the room and behind the curtain that separated the rest of the tailor shop from the changing space. Gabriel closed the curtain behind him before beginning to undress- taking off his coat, ascot, and shirt. He suddenly freezes as he hears a voice outside of the shop. It was a familiar, sinister voice. Clearly the voice of the demon Crowley of all people. Gabriel notices a small window high up on the wall of the tailor shop that looked out on the alleyway where Crowley was. He pulled a stool over and stood on top of it, positioning himself so he could see the demon Crowley, and the shadowy figure he was talking to, all while making sure he wasn’t visible if Crowley or the hooded figure looked up towards the window.  
Crowley spoke to the other demon, “Are you certain we are unobserved, lord, creature from the bowels of Hell?” To Gabriel the dark shadowy figure could be any demon… most likely a higher up demon as Crowley was reporting to them. But what Gabriel couldn’t tell was that it was just a mannequin from the tailor shop dressed in an antique, long black hooded cape. He was also unable to tell that Crowley was also the voice of the other demon. The cloaked figure ‘spoke’ in a deep, raspy voice, “No one is listening, oh demon Crowley. What is it you summoned me here for? I presume this is about how all your plans meet failure.”  
“Curses,” Crowley replied in his regular voice, although his voice carried a little bit of joy. He was enjoying this act. “If only I could understand why my evil plans are always so brilliantly thwarted. It’s as if the forces of Heaven have a champion here on Earth who thwarts me… thwartingly.” He thought for a moment before continuing, “I believe that champion must be the angel Aziraphale… whenever I go to wreak havoc he is there, and my plan fails.”  
His voice dropped a few octaves as he responded to himself, “Why, Mister Crowley, you must not be downcast. I hear news that will bring joy to you and all the powers of Hell. I heard the archangel, Gabriel, discussing how your nemesis, Aziraphale, is being sent back to Heaven. Of course they mentioned replacing said angel… but you and I both know that no other angel knows how to thwart you the same as the angel Aziraphale does. Whoever replaces him down here will be incompetent.”  
The voice once again returned to normal as he continued, “Can this be true? I was going to swallow Holy Water in my despair at once more being beaten by that angel! I was planning to break into a Church… ready to face the immense pain being in there just to get Holy Water to rid myself of this embarrassment and sorrow of losing. But oh, such excellent news! Only Aziraphale knows my ways enough to…”  
“Thwart them?” His monstrous voice cut in.  
“Exactly. Now, let us retreat to an evil drinking den, and drink to the success of evil on this Earth, thanks to Heaven’s foolish decisions,” Crowley said, as he really tried not to chuckle. Crowley then walked off with the shadowy figure- in reality just pulling the mannequin down the alley with him.  
Gabriel quickly hopped off the stool just as the tailor came around the curtain and handed the new suit over. “Uh… here you are sir,” the tailor said, not daring to ask what Gabriel found so interesting out in the dirty alleyway. After all, it was a good place for sinful people together there was almost always something going on back in that alley to judge.  
“Thank you, sir,” Gabriel said while taking the suit. He quickly changed into the new suit and looked at himself in the mirror. “It’s perfect. Thank you,” Gabriel stepped out from behind the curtain and looked at Sandalphon before simply asking, “Thoughts?”  
“Looks wonderful sir. Much better than your old suit,” Sandalphon responded.  
Gabriel walked closer to the other archangel and quietly spoke to him, so the tailor didn’t hear him (the tailor was too busy tidying up his work desk and calculating the price), “Aziraphale needs to stay here. The demon, Crowley, was in the back aisle planning something big now, knowing that Aziraphale will return home.”  
Sandalphon hesitated, glancing at the tailor before whispering back to Gabriel, “Shouldn’t we consult our Lord… or the other angels first?”  
“Sandalphon, I make the rules. I can inform the others later,” he said before patting Sandalphon’s shoulder. “We’ll return to the bookstore when we are done here and talk to Aziraphale about the change.” Gabriel stepped away and went over to the tailor’s desk- they briefly discussed the price before Gabriel paid him. The two angels left the tailor shop and headed right back to Aziraphale’s bookshop. “Change of plans,” Gabriel says as he walks through the door. “We need you here. In your bookshop. Battling evil.”  
Aziraphale stopped putting books on a shelf the moment the archangels walked in. “So, I’m… not going anywhere?” he questioned.  
“Carry on fighting,” Sandalphon said as he punched Aziraphale’s arm- a good-natured gesture to encourage him to continue doing his job. Aziraphale in response bit his lip and held his arm where the punch was delivered. It hurt.  
“Do keep the medal though, you deserve it,” Gabriel stated before snapping his fingers which caused a portal to Heaven to open.  
“But I…” Aziraphale stammered, “I don’t understand.” But with no response the archangels walked through the portal which immediately closed right behind them; which left Aziraphale in his bookstore alone. He didn’t understand why the archangels suddenly changed their minds, but he was rather thankful that he didn’t actually have to go stay in Heaven. He glanced down at the medal that was resting on his chest. He carefully took it off and sighed before going to the back of the store to his little office space. He put the medal down on his desk carefully. As much as he didn’t want the medal (since he felt as if he didn’t do enough to deserve it) he still appreciated the honor of earning it and thus didn’t want to damage it.  
Suddenly, the bell over the door rang. Aziraphale softly said, “Sorry, we open on Friday, I’m afraid I will have to ask you to leave.” He picked up some books off his desk and turned to the door. The angel froze in place as Crowley was back, standing at the door with the box of chocolates under his arm, and now a bouquet of blue and yellow chrysanthemums. “Oh Crowley, those look lovely,” Aziraphale said softly. He stepped closer to the demon and gently took the bouquet of flowers from him.  
“I do plan on being here for your grand-opening, if you don’t mind me being here of course,” Crowley took off his top hat before following Aziraphale to the back of the bookstore, where the office space was. “As long as none of the angels are coming here for the grand-opening I don’t see a problem.”  
Aziraphale glanced around his office space before grabbing a white and blue vase and putting the flowers in it. “None of them are coming that I know of. Doubt they will either, most of them aren’t too interested in human hobbies and interests like reading… they do like spending money but only on expensive clothes really,” He commented before turning to look at the red-haired man. Aziraphale was holding the vase as he asked Crowley, “Do you know anything about… why they suddenly decided to change their mind about bringing me back to Heaven?”  
“Me? You know me, I didn’t do anything.”  
“Crowley, I know you. You obviously did something.”  
“Just a bit of voice acting in the alley… guess it intimidated them enough to get them to keep you down here,” Crowley chuckled before he plopped down in the angel’s desk chair. He awkwardly held the box of chocolates in his lap. “After all… you’re the only one who can thwart me.”  
“Yes well…” Aziraphale’s voice drifted off as he felt a warm aura suddenly coming from Crowley. It was a flash of love. He’s felt this aura many times around Crowley over the years and always got a bit flustered; never sure if he should question him or not. Afterall, he did find Crowley a bit attractive. But he knew that liking a demon was most likely forbidden. ‘Oh stop it Aziraphale! You’re staring at him!’ He mentally slapped himself before awkwardly saying, “I’m going to go get some water for these. I will be right back.”  
He stepped away and went up the spiral staircase to the second floor. He went to into the bathroom and filled up the vase with water from the sink. The blonde-haired man looked at himself in the mirror as he thought to himself, ‘Maybe… he does have romantic feelings for me. Why else would that aura come from him? It’s not like there is anyone else around… unless he is thinking about some pretty girl he saw earlier. He couldn’t love an angel. Especially not me! Him and I are so different.’ Aziraphale anxiously looked away from the mirror as his own thoughts made him anxious, ‘He’s a demon and quite rude! I’m an angel… and I’m… soft.’ Aziraphale glanced down at the vase, he could feel his hands beginning to sweat as his mind slowly begun to fill with hope. ‘Maybe he does. What friends buy flowers for each other? Isn’t this… a romantic gift?’ He questioned, as he stared down at the flowers in his hands. ‘The chocolates I can understand. I do like chocolate, so it is a nice gift… but flowers are a bit much. This is something a gentleman would get for the woman he fancies. Maybe he really did mean something more with these. God, should I question him on this?’ The angel looked up at the sky, as if waiting for God to answer his question. Waiting for some sign- a simple yes or no, which never came. The blond-haired man sighed to himself before heading downstairs; gently holding the vase of flowers in his anxiously sweaty hands.  
Crowley was still slumped in the chair, the box of chocolates still awkwardly resting on his lap as if the whole box was ready to tip over at any moment and spill its contents on the floor. He only had moved an inch since Aziraphale left him for a moment to look at the stack of books pushed aside on the desk. He was reading each title on the spine. He lifted his head when he heard Aziraphale come down the stairs. “They look lovely in that vase,” Crowley commented, as he turned in the chair to look right at the angelic man. He picked up the red box of chocolates from his lap and handed them to Aziraphale.  
“Hold on- Hold on. I need a space for these,” Aziraphale stammered as he walked into the chaotic mess that was the bookstore. He glanced around the room trying to find one empty table, but every single one was stacked with books. “Crowley, can you come help me?” He called out as he went over to an end table by the front door.  
Crowley groaned, as he reluctantly got up from the chair, tossing the box of chocolates on the desk. He strutted into the messy bookstore and approached Aziraphale. Without any words exchanging between them, Crowley knew exactly what Aziraphale wanted from him. The demon gingerly picked up the stack of books off the table so Aziraphale could then have a space to put the vase of flowers. He watched the angel attentively place the vase right in the middle of the table; he couldn’t help but smile slightly at how there was this one bit of perfection amongst the deranged shop. The demon looked around the chaotic shop, looking for somewhere to put the books. “Uh… where would you like these books, angel?” He asked in a soft voice.  
Aziraphale stepped back from the table- analyzing to see that the flowers were precisely placed. He then looked at Crowley and held out his arms, “I’ll take them.” Crowley handed the books over before Aziraphale continued to talk. The angel put a hand on the top of the stack us his other arm cradled the bottom of the stack. His voice became softer as he spoke again, “I should thank you for bringing the flowers, Crowley. I haven’t even thought of decorating the store just yet… the shelves are barely organized so I haven’t even gotten to even debating on decorations but the flowers… they really brought some life and light into this disorganized room.” Aziraphale picked up the book at the top of the stack before mumbling something to himself with a small smile on his face. He went over to a bookshelf and organized the books onto the shelf.  
“Well, when you are ready to decorate, I can bring you shopping to buy some art,” Crowley commented as he tagged behind the angel. “Do you want me to help you set up shop while I’m here?” the demon offered in a caring tone of voice.  
The angel hesitated in response, turning and looking up. “Well I… I don’t need any sort of Mona Lisa in here. And… I don’t want to be rude… but I… you wouldn’t understand how I like them organized so I can just… do it myself, later. Here… let me just tidy up the office space then we can sit and chat.” Aziraphale walked by him cautiously, trying not to either trip on books, and to not get too close to the demon- he was already questioning his own feelings, and the demon’s feelings, and he certainly wasn’t ready to face them just yet. He walked back to his desk and picked up another stack of books from the desk. He glanced at the other man, and looked back at the book in his hand, before tossing the book onto the floor.  
Meanwhile Crowley stood there awkwardly in the middle of the room, watching the angel shuffle to his desk, grab a large pile of books, and then saunter back over to a bookcase to put the books away. “Azira… here, let me help,” he wandered over to the office himself. The red-haired man bent over and grabbed some books that were laying on the floor by the desk. He then followed Aziraphale again. Once he saw that the angel ran out of books in his arms, Crowley grabbed the first book from the top of his pile and handed it to Aziraphale.  
“Oh thank you de- oh not this one,” Aziraphale said as he looked at the cover of the book in order to see where it belonged, but this book in particular caused him to stop. He quickly became flustered as he spun around to look at the helpful demon. He decided to trade the one book for the stack of others. “I actually wanted to give you this one. Thought it might pique your interest,” Aziraphale gushed. His voice was so soft and pleasant, practically melting on spot for the demon- somehow he could manage to talk to him all day, and accept gifts from him and not show how he was falling head over heels but when it came to giving he couldn’t control it, his mannerisms positively oozed love.  
Crowley paused, staring at the angel as he willingly gave him a book. No wonder the angel seemed to be radiating love. The angel treasured books, they were his most prized possessions, so Crowley knew it meant a lot for the bookworm to be giving him a book instead of anything else. “Thank you ‘Zira. But you know I’m not much of a reader… I do appreciate it, but I think it would… I don’t fucking know… have a better life if it stays with you… or like… you know, gets sold to someone who will read it like you,” He rambled on, while attempting to hand the book back. He did cherish the fact that Aziraphale was thinking about him and cared enough to set a book aside for him but Crowley was never interested in reading. To him, the gift was completely useless- he couldn’t even get temporary pleasure like he may get from chocolates or flowers (not that he would get any pleasure from those things. Plants? Maybe. Chocolates? No, not his thing but, Aziraphale obviously got some temporary pleasure from such things.)  
Aziraphale froze before nervously glancing around the shop and then at the book Crowley was handing back to him. Without even looking at the demon, Aziraphale could tell beyond the glasses that Crowley was looking right at him rather than the book. “Crowley,” the angel started to talk, raising his head to stare right at the black sunglasses. “Did you even read the title? I think you may like this one.”  
Crowley raised an eyebrow then looked down at the book, simply scanning the cover and reading the title. “Comedy isn’t really my thing angel,” he responded.  
“It’s… not really a comedy, dear. And I thought you would have known the author too.”  
The demon once again looked back down at the cover of the book, and then suddenly exclaiming, “Oh Dante! He’s a rather nice fellow.” He returned his attention to the blond man in front of him. “Hm… I guess I will read this then. Gratias tibi, angel.”  
“Oh, latine loqui!” The angel uttered in complete surprise. He was caught off guard that Crowley could speak Latin. He continued to ramble in the ancient language, even while the demon only begun to look more confused, “Latine, quando discis? Romae, sic? Non fallunt diebus illis… comedere ostreis et bibens vinum tecum. …odi et amo tempore. Amicitiam habemus amo.”  
“Angel-Angel stop- I don’t remember much Latin. We know I didn’t care much to actually learn… forget learning to read or write it, but why learn to talk when I can just use demonic powers to make others understand me. All I really understood from all of what you said was Rome… and… did you mean to quote Catullus? Strange fellow. Anyways, if you could stick to English please,” The demon was kind of curious of what the angel said but he figured it wasn’t a big deal if he understood or not; it probably wasn’t important, which it really wasn’t.  
“Oh… Sorry,” he said with an awkward smile. He turned and put the rest of the books back on the bookshelf. “Learning languages is fun,” he commented. The plump man wavered before looking over his shoulder and seemed to plead to him, “Do tell me you at least know how to at least read and write in English.”  
“Oi, fuck off,” the demon scoffed almost instantaneously at the question, but not giving an answer.  
Aziraphale was unsure if it was just a stupid question or if the demon who was five-thousand-eight-hundred years old really never learned to read or write. Sounded like something he could test later but just to push some buttons Aziraphale teasingly said, “I can read that to you some time if you need.”  
“Shut up, I’m not vazey.”  
“Hm… I know you though, you do have a tendency to be a hornswoggler,” Aziraphale called him a liar with such a confident smile on his face that it drew Crowley just a little insane.  
Crowley grabbed the collar to Aziraphale’s shirt and pushed him back against the bookcase. “I said, fuck off,” he hissed lowly right in the angel’s face. “I’m not that bloody stupid.” Aziraphale couldn’t help but smirk, the aggressiveness made it seemed like the demon was compensating for his inability to read.  
All of a sudden, the front door to the bookshop opened. Luckily for the two eternal beings it was only the sign painter, and not the angels Gabriel and Sandalphon returning. The man stopped in the entrance, the door slowly creaking shut behind him. He just stood there in silence, staring at the two men against the bookcase, nose-to-nose. The English gentleman then slowly opened his mouth and stammered, “Am I… am I interrupting something?”  
The two of them turned their heads to look at the door. An awkward silence filled the room before Crowley swiftly let go of the book shop owner and took a step back. “Ahem,” he cleared his throat, “No, you’re not. I was just…”  
“Just some friendly threatening. He’s a close friend of mine,” Aziraphale filled in quickly for the demon. “He has quite the temper sometimes, but he means no harm really.” Silence once again fell between the three of them. “Oh you probably want your payment,” the angel gasped, ashamed that he almost forgotten such a simple thing as paying someone for their work. “One moment; wait here a moment… you too Crowley.” Aziraphale pulled himself off the bookcase and went back to his office to grab a few shillings.  
“Alright angel,” Crowley said casually, not realizing what he called the other man until he sensed the sign painter staring at him with the most confused expression. “Bugger off flapdoodle,” the demon growled at him, low enough so the angel wouldn’t overhear him insulting the human, telling the stranger to mind his own business.  
Aziraphale returned a moment later and handed a small coin bag to the sign painter with a warm smile. “Here you are good sir. Keep the change,” he chirped and the offered, “Do you wish to stay for tea?” The man shook his head, a silent no, took his payment and turned for the door. Rather reluctantly, the angel guided the man to the door. He happily showed him out and waved; meanwhile the sign painter didn’t even as much as look back to thank Aziraphale for the job. “Oh well… I’m sure he is busy. Humans live quite hectic lives,” he said softly to no one in particular as he closed the doors to the shop. He then turned and looked at Crowley, who has a mischievous smile on his face. “Oh Crowley… I know that look, did you do something to that poor fellow?”  
Crowley shook his head in response. And with a shrug of his shoulders he answered, “Nah, I didn’t do anything to that guy. Didn’t want to risk messing up your reputation by messing with him. I just… was thinking about other things.” Crowley became silent, face flattening as he glanced down at the floor- debating on saying something.  
“Oh… then why that evil grin of yours?”  
“It’s nothing really… just finding something dumb quite humorous is all.”  
“Finding what humorous?”  
“Nothing.”  
“Crowley. Do tell me.” Aziraphale smiled innocently and took a few steps towards the demon.  
“Ngh… well… sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, but he clearly thought we were a couple and well… he was rather disturbed by it. Not sure why I find it amusing. Can’t believe humans are so confused same-sex couples.”  
Aziraphale froze in place and a blush grew on his face. “A c-couple?” he stammered. He awkwardly cupped his hands together over his chest and looked down at the floor, not sure how to react. “We… I don’t see anything wrong with same-sex couples it’s just… humans get confused because the only same-sex couples they might see are you know… prostitutes…”  
“Oh shut it Aziraphale.”  
“What?! All the same-sex couples in books I’ve read have been prostitutes. The ones I see are prostitutes stalking the streets at night for customers! Never seen any other blokes flirting with other chaps outside of that situation.”  
“I can assure you there are very normal same-sex couples living all over the place… they just can’t come out because they will be judged for being faggots.” Crowley then raised a pointed finger and smiled before brightly saying, “Which reminds me! I have a miracle I want you to do… make the word homosexual popular.”  
Aziraphale shivered at ‘faggot’, a slur for prostitutes. Prostitutes weren’t exactly holy and pure, but they certainly didn’t deserve to be called such a word- a term that referred to impoverished women that turned into an insult over time due to prostitution being one of the few options for impoverished women to make money. It was a rather sad thing for the angel to witness; to witness women having no choice but to turn to prostitution to live. He knew many of them weren’t happy and weren’t safe and he felt that they deserved better- so he vowed to never dare insult them; but he tended to avoid them, so people don’t mistake him for associating with them, or even soliciting them. He then shook his head, shaking away his thoughts and opinions on that one word. The angel then raised an eyebrow and questioned, “Homosexual?”  
“Yes. I don’t know what you think, but since there are normal same-sex couples out there, I think that they need a label that doesn’t tie them directly to prostitution. So… I came up with homosexual. You know… like… liking the same sex. That’s what it means. Isn’t tied to anything people shame… or anything for that matter. A completely new label.”  
“Crowley… that is… thoughtful for you to think about that. It’s nice that you want same-sex couples to have a better label than that… that f word.”  
Crowley shot a glare at the blond-haired man. He was tempted to once again pin the bookshop owner against the bookcases but he somehow managed to refrain from his own temptation, and instead he just responded, “Shut it. That’s why I want you to do that. I’m not nice. I can’t be nice. I’d get in big trouble if Hell finds out I’m doing something helpful to some humans. So I want you to create the new word- homosexual. I assume the higher ups, your bosses like that wanker Gabriel, won’t mind you performing this miracle since it isn’t anything bad, right?”  
“Well… no… being in a same-sex relationship isn’t sinful in itself… it’s just that lust is… hence why some of the other angels may not support helping out prostitutes, but it may be easier for all of us to separate the sinful uh… homosexuals from the ones who aren’t sinful. But… almost of all of the… homosexuals have sex before marriage.”  
“Not their fault that most places won’t allow two men to get married,” Crowley stated, with an annoyed sigh. “They aren’t all prostitutes and you should know that. That stereotype and the fact that two men can’t produce a child together is what stops most places from making it legal. So, two men can be dating for fifty years, act like they’re married… but because they can’t get married in the eyes of a church their sex is sinful. Which is just stupid. Handful of homosexuals just become prostitutes and ruin it for all the others, huh?”  
“And… your argument for them not being able to have children?” Aziraphale inquired and then awkwardly added, “Just thought you would like to add since you are rambling about it.”  
“Simple, too many damn people in this world as it is. Too many kids left in orphanages too… which I am sure you are well aware of. You remember Mesopotamia, right?”  
“Of course I remember Mesopotamia. I’m still… rather torn. You went directly against the great plan… you could have messed it all up. You made the ones you saved orphans but… then again, you saved their lives.”  
“Hmph. Great plan… ineffable bullshit. I’m sure She even plans my own actions so I’m sure I didn’t mess up crap,” Crowley commented and then added in a hiss, “You know how I feel about Her damned plan… we know it ends with destroying everything. Doesn’t make any fucking sense.” He then continued in a softer voice, “Kids have so much life ahead of them… couldn’t save their parents. Kids deserve the chance. I saved them so I don’t care if I messed up the all so great plan. But… anyways… homosexuals could adopt kids. Helps by not creating more annoying people who will eventually turn into asshole adults, and also helps take care of the mass amount of orphans who deserve better. Really just saying with a new word, separating the sinful from others, and working on allowing them to get married then it will solve some problems with the human population.”  
“That… does make sense. I guess I could perform that miracle for you then. Can I say one last thing though?” Aziraphale spoke softly and waited for the demon to nod his head before continuing, “Don’t you want more sinners? Help build up the army of Hell? All that codswallop.”  
“I don’t quite care to be honest. Hell’s too damn overpopulated too but we can’t really do shit about that. Not like I care about the so-called ‘holy war’. We got some time, but I hope on… I don’t know, either ditching, going AWOL, or somehow stopping it in its tracks. …You know one day the antichrist will be born. Children are rather easy to influence… I’m sure when the day comes, we can somehow convince the antichrist to not stop the war. But I’m just trying to get through now… not worrying about the apocalypse just yet. You know?”  
“You plan to leg it? You can’t just stop it you know… It’s ineffable. It’s planned. It will happen. As much as I… shamefully, agree with you that the destruction of this world doesn’t make sense. Don’t be daft though; we can’t go against God’s words, and we can’t avoid the apocalypse. I don’t think running off will help anything.”  
“Put a sock in it. It’s just something I’ve been debating for a while; haven’t made any decision yet. Probably won’t until the antichrist is born. Once the antichrist is born, I know I will have eleven years to make a choice to either fight or run.” Crowley paused and narrowed his eyes before asking the angel, “Do you think differently of me now? Is it weak to run away? Bet you won’t want to fight either. You’re the purest, softest, nicest damn angel to exist. Wee bit of a bastard but not a bloody twat like Gabriel.”  
A blush grew on the angel’s face in response to everything the demon just said. He felt embarrassed that Crowley would accuse him of looking down on him for wanting to avoid the apocalypse (for he too was quite anxious about the world coming to an end) and he was also a bit flustered with how the red-haired man complimented him. “Well uh… no. I don’t want to fight either. I’m just… personally not one for violence.”  
“Is that why you gave away the sword? Didn’t like having a weapon?”  
“Well, uh… something like that. Weapons should be used as defense, rather than offense in my eyes. I gave it to the humans to protect themselves. There are dangerous animals out there in the world and she was already expecting and-“  
“Yeah yeah, we’ve gone over this whole speech before, angel. I was just teasing you is all. You wanted to make sure they would survive out there in the world. Sadly though it backfired and became one of the first weapons and introduced violence.”  
“I… I guess it was all part of the ineffable plan since God didn’t punish me for giving the sword to the humans… or lying right to her face. I didn’t intend for my sword to become a weapon and create violence and war; I just wanted the humans to be able to defend themselves and I’m sure God understood my intentions were good.”  
“…I’m sure of it too.” The demon paused and glanced at the angel, trying to think of something to say. He couldn’t come up with anything though. He couldn’t currently get his mind off of the Garden of Eden and the whole moment where Crowley found out the angel of the eastern gate gave away his holy sword. He couldn’t explain it, but the demon thought it was quite bold of the angel to do such a thing and somehow made him attractive. The red-haired man anxiously bit his lip as he thought about what to do and much like the many other times over the centuries he could only come up with running away from his feelings. He cleared his throat and continued to speak, “Anyways, I should let you finish setting up your shop. See you on opening day angel. Friday right? I’ll see you then.”  
Aziraphale gasped softly, surprised that Crowley was suddenly leaving. He swiftly grabbed the demon’s wrist to stop him from walking out of the store so soon. “Yes… Friday… there is something I wanted to say to you before though Crowley. I wanted to ask you something… it is rather important, I’m afraid I can’t wait until Friday for an answer.”  
Crowley could feel his heart race and his face heat up. He was already nervous as it was, his stomach filled with butterflies, and now the angel stopped him in his tracks and said he needed to ask him something. There was one question Crowley wanted it to be, but at the same time wasn’t ready to face the question- hell, he doubted Aziraphale would even ask the question that Crowley dreaded to hear come out of the soft mouth of the angelic man. “Ngh, go ahead angel. But I can’t hang out here too long, I got stuff to do,” he scoffed awkwardly, he just wanted to avoid the problem of his romantic feelings for the angel and in his mind the best way to avoid that problem was to run away. He hated that the blond-haired man halted him from running off.  
The celestial being hesitated for a moment, pondering how to word the question he wanted to ask. He didn’t want this to be an awkward situation for Crowley, but Aziraphale needed to hear an explanation for the feelings that he was reading from the so-called ‘heartless’ demon. “Crowley… I… I don’t know how to say this but… I’m an angel.”  
“How fucking stupid do you think I am? Think I got my memory wiped? I know you’re an angel,” Crowley teased with a smirk on his face. He didn’t think his heart could beat any faster but he knew what the angel was starting to get it and he wasn’t ready to face that question and confession just yet.  
“Oh Crowley, shut it. I get this rather… you… sorry. You just have a romantic aura radiating off of you whenever you are around me, especially when you are alone with me. I just… I wanted to know how deep your feelings are for me Crowley? Do you… love me? As in… more than just a friend?”  
Crowley froze right where he was standing. He knew the angel could sense emotions such a romantic attraction- but he hoped the angel would never bring it up… but here they were. Perhaps comings to see Aziraphale was a bad idea. Perhaps the chocolates and flowers was a bad idea; they must have been too big of a giveaway to the man he thought was just too damn oblivious. Crowley gulped as sweat started to build up on his brow. He eventually stammered, “I-I don’t know Aziraphale. I can’t explain it. I’m sorry.” Crowley shook his head and swiftly put his hat back on his head. “I have to go. Friday. I’ll see you then.”  
Aziraphale’s eyes widened as Crowley spoke, it was obvious how uneasy the demon was with the question. “Oh, I’m sorry for asking.” He nervously then added just as Crowley was heading out of the bookshop door, “We can discuss this Friday! A-After my opening party.”  
“Perhaps,” the demon commented, just as he shut the door behind him.


End file.
